It is important that some products, for example certain type of pharmaceuticals or biotech products, are maintained within a specified temperature range, typically 2° to 8° C., to prevent the product from being damaged, or its shelf-life being reduced relative to the shelf-life stated on the product. The product may be a very high value medicine or the like, which will be worthless if its temperature is not correctly controlled. This may be problematic during shipment, particularly if the product is being shipped by air.
In order to maintain the temperature of a product during shipment of a product, the product will often be shipped in an insulated container, known as an insulated shipper, which may or may not be a pallet shipper.
One type of shipper is the active shipper. This generally comprises a thermally insulated container having a cooling device and/or heating element for controlling the interior temperature of the shipper and thus the product. Energy is provided, often from an external electrical supply, or an internal battery.
An advantage of an active shipper is that, in the case where it is connected to an external power supply, the temperature may be maintained within a desired range for a relatively long, or indefinite, period of time. However, a disadvantage of active shippers is that they can be less reliable than passive shippers, for example they can be subject to mechanical breakdown and may be reliant on being correctly connected to a reliable external power supply.
A further disadvantage of active shippers is that they require inspection and maintenance to ensure they are correctly functioning and are relatively more expensive than the equivalent passive shipper. For this reason, they are often rented and thus availability may be a problem, where orders to transport a product may be received at short notice. Renting active shippers in case they should be required is both expensive and space consuming.
An alternative type of shipper is the passive shipper. This relies on cool blocks (which may be frozen or chilled) being placed around the product to maintain the product within a desired temperature range. A disadvantage of the passive shipper, relative to the active shipper, is that product may only be maintained in the desired temperature range for a finite time, determined in part by the quantity and type of cool packs used. However, this is acceptable in many applications, where the shipment time is relatively short, for example if the product is to be shipped by air.
A major advantage of passive shippers is that, provided they are correctly packed and do not experience unforeseen extremes of temperature, the product should be safely maintained within a given temperature range for a specified period of time, without reliance on any external factors. Other advantages of passive shippers are that they require no maintenance and are inexpensive relative to equivalent active shippers. Passive shippers are commonly distributed flat packed, to reduce “in-bound” delivery costs, which makes it practical for them to be kept in stock, so they are readily available should they be required.
As stated above, delivering passive shippers flat packed does have advantages, however a disadvantage of passive shippers being delivered flat packed is that it significantly increases pack out times, compared to active shippers, which only have to be loaded with a product.
A passive shipper typically comprises a base on which a product is to be carried, at least four inner wall panels to surround the product, a number of uprights between the panels and a lid. A further set of uprights may be provided, to be secured around the inner wall for supporting a large number of cool packs. At least four outer wall sections are also provided which, when the cool packs have been put in place, are assembled around the cool packs and secured to the uprights. More cool packs are then placed on top of the inner lid prior to an outer lid being placed on the shipper ready for shipping.
Thus, ignoring the cool packs, a passive shipper may require twenty or more components to be assembled. This may not be too much of a problem in the case of a small shipper being assembled by an experienced assembler, but it can be problematic in the case of larger shippers, which may be several meters high, wide or deep, requiring two or more people to first unpack the components, which will normally have been delivered as a flat packed assembly on a base pallet. A significant amount of working space is thus required to arrange the components prior to the components then being correctly assembled to form the assembled shipper.
The incorrect laying out of the components as they are initially unpacked may hamper assembly, increasing the pack out time and costs. This may be particularly problematic if experienced staff are not available. It also increases the risk of errors in assembly, which may result in a failed shipment or temperature excursions outside of the predetermined range.